Historic Walks and Government Documents

True confession: I love government documents, especially the National Register of Historic Places government documents.

You can learn to love them too, because each National Register of Historic Places document contains a trove of information, including maps and photographs.

The documents can even be used for fun — really!

A while back a friend of mine was talking with me and trying to remember just what restaurant used to be located in a certain section of Ninth Street in downtown Columbia. I told her — and I’m telling you — I could find out by looking at the National Register of Historic Places documents for the downtown areas.

These documents can be used to take you on a trip down memory lane, even if you weren’t here back then, by using the old historic maps in the documents which can show you where something used to be. For example, did you know there used to be a service station in downtown Columbia? Do you know what’s there now? I do.

So here are links to the government documents for various areas in downtown Columbia. Download them, print them out and give yourself a tour of the past. Before you know it, you’ll be telling people you love government documents too, or at least these National Register of Historic Places government documents!

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Published by diannaobrien

Journalist. Teacher. Traveler. I'm still driven to find that one last surprising detail, fact or figure, whether it's about frozen food packaging or the history of Columbia, Missouri. I reveal the hidden history, myths and mysteries of CoMo at columbiahistorichomes.com. In 2017, I published a book I wrote with Charles W. Gehrke about his life as an analyst of the moon rocks from the Apollo missions and his founding of ABC Labs, now Eurofins, a global firm. Read more at melonfields.com
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